Cooking for one (Mark Two)

monnagran

I make fantastic, melt-inthe-mouth pastry. It is one of my talents. The other three are - the ability to cut a straight slice of bread from a loaf, the gift of being able to tell a good story and extreme modesty.

[Deleted User]

lol monna

Food is sorted for today and so am I, maudlin is over, I hope

Porridge, with soaked dried apricots and frozen blackcurrants, eaten. Lunch a full meal, meat and several veg. Last light meal has to be something like scrapes of peanut butter on spelt toast. That makes my tum feel comfy and I no longer wake up at 2.30 with heartburn. I am hoping to be very frugal and selective about dipping into my treat stash today

Overnight I decided to look forward to new things in 2018, no point dwelling on the past, it has gone for good. New house hopefully and a fulfilling time, maybe teaching new `friends` how to do some of my crafts, an aim for after I move. Crafts are sewing, knitting, spinning and wood carving. Cooking is no longer something I love, used to and was a really good cook but mainly now it is eat to live with a bit of variety, plain food mostly

PasturesNew

monnagran wrote: »

I make fantastic, melt-inthe-mouth pastry. It is one of my talents. The other three are - the ability to cut a straight slice of bread from a loaf, the gift of being able to tell a good story and extreme modesty.

You forgot the stunningly good looks and superb figure!

PasturesNew

I did ...... the 8am early doors 4ldi run! It was OK.

Got the Brussels (not manky today, except a few at the top, so I dug deep), got carrots .... then mulled over whether to buy a bag of spuds and finally decided "well, they're so cheap it'd be rude not to".

They had zero cheap bread, just an empty slot.

Picked up a pack of beef mince with a 30% sticker on it .... I figured I could squeeze that in and thought I MIGHT make a chilli immediately - once I got it home I decided not to make a chilli today.. so found a spot in the freezer for it, the last spot!

Trifles - they did two "posh/Xmas trifles" - but not a chocolate trifle in sight.... then I saw their "common or garden/have this all the time, simple trifle" for £1.49 and got one because I remember last year being disappointed that I'd not got one - and it was dated 3 January.... so I figure I'll get round to that.

Then it was simple stuff: eggs, sweet pickle and cherry tomatoes.

And it's out the door having spent just over £5.

I'm practically all done now ... except the dreaded "cooking it all" bit.

caronc

monnagran wrote: »

I make fantastic, melt-inthe-mouth pastry. It is one of my talents. The other three are - the ability to cut a straight slice of bread from a loaf, the gift of being able to tell a good story and extreme modesty.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Good morning everyone,
I'm enjoying a quiet cuppa before tackling the housework. Elder son and his partner are due to arrive around 1pm so want this done before chaos descends again.

We did have the cauli cheese last night along with some garlic bread and tasty it was too:), there are LOs which I'll freeze as I doubt they'll get used over the next couple of days and I need the fridge space. Chicken wraps tonight I think unless the kids want a takeaway:)

Need2bthrifty

We never had smoked salmon or christmas pudding at our family dinners, we always started with a vegetable broth, then we had turkey with an oatmeal stuffing, kiltie sausages, roast and mashed potatoes, mashed swede and brussels. Pudding was always trifle, made with strawberries that mother had bottled in the summertime or tinned peaches . After the washing up was done, mother would put a clootie dumpling on to cook which we would have in the evening after turkey or ham sandwiches.

I didn't taste smoked salmon or christmas pud until I was working and went to the christmas doo - tried them and didn't like them. I have continued to try smoked salmon in a variety of guises but just find it too fatty and wet, its all down to the smoking process with me and I much prefer a hot smoked to a cold smoked salmon.

So today fried egg softie for breakfast, lunch and dinner will be decided after I get the freezer in better order and see what I fancy or what needs using.

mcculloch29

My parents were Estonian and Latvian, so our Christmas dinners were a bit different.
We had soup to start with, made from turkey giblets, with carrot and rice (really nice), with the turkey we had carrots, but sauerkraut instead of sprouts. Christmas pud for afters, and at tea time, a trifle, home made mince pies, and a chocolate yule log, but with lots of continental extras - rollmops, salamis, and herring in sherry sauce.
Lidl have been known to do the herring in sherry sauce, but I haven't seen it for some years, shame, as it is to die for.

Boxing Day, the turkey leftovers were fried up, along with leftover roasties. I loved this meal almost as much as Christmas dinner.
Monna. My pastry isn't bad at all, but these days, I even buy shortcrust ready -rolled or in slabs.
I can remember trying to make rough puff pastry about 40 years ago, and what a PITA that was.

PasturesNew

Took a walk round to L1dl, almost deserted .... and they'd not re-stocked their freezers or a lot of shelves. No cheap bread, just an empty slot on the shelf.

I had a list of things that weren't critical, but were for "things my silly head thought I might bother to get round to cooking" "as it's Xmas" .... but we all know I'd not Drinks were a little underwhelming (and a big trolley was in the way) - but they didn't sell simple 1 litre cartons of cheap orange juice. That's what stores like L1dl used to sell: plain/simple foods, cheaply. That's all gone by the way now they're perpetually gentrifying.

TWO ... 100g blocks of chocolate "because it's Xmas" and "because I might make some chocolatey treats, such as more Cornflake Crispies".

Pack of sausage rolls as you do.

Tub of their "Butterly" spread, got enough in, but "just in case" it means I don't have to go out if I suddenly get it into my head to make cakes/whatnot that require extraordinarily large volumes of the yellow stuff.

Two "30% off" small flavoured ciabatta breads, so 88p/pack of 2 instead of their usual price. In the freezer with those, found a corner as they were flat and small. They're not "for Xmas", they're "just regular food".

And fruit! Yes, actual real fruit. One Bramley apple (for baking a pudding) and two small bananas. The Bramley recipe actually needs suet, but L1dl/4ldi don't sell that, so I've not managed to get any, but I'll sub that with marg.

And that was it I think .... £3.89.

No matter how long/short your list is - and no matter how many shops you visit .... you never actually achieve the status of "list complete". I think that's the nature of "shopping by bits" - if you shop by bits and pieces, then each time you come home and cross an item off, you re-read the list and add something new to it

I could now feed 4 people for a week with what I've got in.... except bread as I've none of that, but I do have lots of "big bread rolls".

Breakfast today needs to be: A toasted big roll (as I'd defrosted one), 2 scrambled eggs (as they're the last of the pack and I've bought a new pack, so that clears the worktop of that pack) and the rest of the beans I opened yesterday. So a "use it up, get it gone, clear some space" breakfast.

mcculloch29

Need2bthrifty wrote: »

I didn't taste smoked salmon or christmas pud until I was working and went to the christmas doo - tried them and didn't like them. I have continued to try smoked salmon in a variety of guises but just find it too fatty and wet, its all down to the smoking process with me and I much prefer a hot smoked to a cold smoked salmon.

We had continental smoked fish, I didn't taste smoked salmon, until we found a side at Dunnes Stores in Billingham in the mid Eighties. It was about £8, probably the same price per 100g that it would be now. (The Billingham store was just about the only branch this Irish chain had in the UK. A pity, as they were good. The clothes were 'St Bernard', I remember, and decent quality).

I've had cold smoked salmon a lot since, though I can see why you don't like it.

I don't like Christmas pud much either though, and for my own Christmas dinner afters, we had a hm - or Birds' - trifle. Christmas pud is just too heavy after all that turkey, etc, imho.

[Deleted User]

my parents were Polish father (war, tanks), mother Dutch. We never had roast beef and I grew up on sauerkraut and fermented milk. Pierogi the evening before christmas, we always had two of their best friends over. Tarts with a lovely almond topping, stretched out with ground rice, twisty deep fried little biscuits. I loved that food. Hm roll mops, bought from a market stall in st johns market in liverpool, I used to carry the salted herrings back wrapped in newspaper, on the bus and got loads of looks at the smell

I am back to feeling good humoured, listening to local radio and the presenter who sounds just like Ed Grundy. Its a cheery channel. Food for lunch is prepped, part roasted parsnips (allotment and I make these before they get sweet) foil wrapped pork steak so I don`t waste oven space, sprouts (6 because there are lots in the bag) and frozen peas, to add to the sprouts 5 mins before the end. Carrot would be too much

I am taking cooked turkey to dd for her christmas gathering, cooking it tomorrow and it is all ready now. Will slice, moisten with gravy, cool as fast as and put into foil trays. Transport via chilled cool bag. I`ll be back in my own bed that night, my hips get too achey in a different bed. The road will be full of older people going back home for the same reasons.